(3) Then move the leg that was operated on (your right leg) forward, about as far forward as the cane is, bearing some of your weight on the cane;

(4) Next, move the leg that was not operated on (your left leg) forward past the leg that was operated on.

(5) Start with Step 2 again.

I recall a patient of mine who, like you, had just undergone a hip replacement and had been given a cane. When I asked him how it was going, he said it worked pretty well at home, but that he couldn't go out. I was puzzled about why using the cane should be harder outside the home than in the home. It turned out that he was simply embarrassed to be seen in public using a cane. "Canes are for old people," he said.

So I taught him to use crutches. That way people might think he'd been skiing an expert trail in the Rockies! Since then, I've asked many of my patients facing hip or knee replacement surgery about their views on canes vs. crutches. A fair number (and not all of them men) much preferred the image of using crutches to using a cane. Both devices are fine for most patients. Choose whatever is best for your self-image. (For my hip replacement surgery, I used crutches.)

(Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. Go to his website to send questions and get additional information: www.AskDoctorK.com.)